Death Breath Goes to Hogwarts
by Grace R Lupin
Summary: I don't own the Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. I mean if I did do you think I would be alone in my bedroom writing fanfiction? Anyway this fanfic in about Nico di Angelo (Death Breath) going to Hogwarts to protect Harry Potter from You-know-who. If you didn't get that from the title already. (Which you should have because it's freaking obvious) It's rated T just in case. Please R&R
1. Yer' A Wizard Nico

"You

"You're not giving me a _choice_ are you, father?" Nico spat at Hades.

"No, not at all," He replied calmly. "Besides, I thought you would _want_ to lead your own quest for once." _Gods! He doesn't get it does he?_ Nico thought.

"I meant a _real_ quest! Not some school!" He yelled.

"What's so bad about school?" The god asked, obviously not caring in the least.

"Because the last time I went to school I had Bianca!" He shouted, a sob building up in his throat. He bit the inside of his mouth. _Don't be an idiot!_ He scolded himself. This subject with him and his father had already been on a thin, thin, string, and Nico didn't want to be there when it finally snapped. Hades regarded him cautiously, as if plotting his next move on a chessboard.

Hades said, "I picked one other person to go along with you on this quest, so you won't be completely lost." Nico decided to ignore the second part of what he said. _Is this supposed to be_ good _news?_ He tried to look calm.

"WHAT?" He yelled. The quest alone was bad enough, now he had to do it with someone he didn't even know? Take that back, he didn't even want to go on this quest with someone he _did_ know.

"Holy, idiot brother!"(Holy, Zeus!) Hades exclaimed. "Calm down boy, she's….. she's very easy to get along with….. I think."

"Oh, yea. Supper reassuring." Nico muttered under his breath. Either Hades didn't hear him, or he chose to ignore it.

"Έλα εδώ Μέγαρα!" Hades called. (Come here Megra.) She appeared at his side in a swoosh of darkness… shadow travel. _The only people I know of that can shadow travel are… oh gods._ The girl was around Nico's height, with mid back long, wavy brown hair. Her eyes were sky blue and full of life, or maybe they just seemed that way because she was in the underworld. She was wearing a gold and red tie, and a shirt that said I'm a genius your arguments are invalid.

"You called, Lord Hades?" She asked casually.

"Yes. It's time to bring Nico to Hogwarts," He said, like they'd talked about it for weeks beforehand. (Which they most likely had.) And knowing how most demigods are like with Nico, Hades probably had to beg her to come on this quest with him. So when she got an excited glimmer in her eyes, he was in complete and utter shock. She jumped up and down, noticed she didn't look very professional, and quickly stopped. The girl cleared her throat and stuck out her hand for Nico to shake it.

"Megra daughter of-"

"Hades?" Nico suggested.

"No. Daughter of Nemesis and…." She looked at Hades, who looked at her nicely, as if saying: Go on, It's fine. _He never gave_ me _that look before._ "Daughter of Nemesis and… Sirius Black." She fliched. Nico shook her hand.

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, and who's Sirius Black?" He asked.

"He's a wanted criminal in the other half of my life."

"Other half? You mean you're mortal family?"

"No. My wizarding family." Nico decided not to ask more about that.

"He's a wanted criminal?" He asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. But he's innocent," She said, her voice cracking. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this right now."

"Yea," Said Nico feeling uncomfortably that she was telling him all of this. There was silence for about 20 seconds before Hades spoke up.

"You need to get started on this quest tomorrow if you want to get to the platform by the first of september." He said shooing us away.

"Fine. Grab my arm Nico." She demanded.

"Umm…"

"Just do it!" She said more forcefully. He did as he was told and in no time he was back at camp half-blood.

"Weird," He said to himself. That experience definitely wasn't shadow travel. It was… magic.

"Meet me by the fire pit tomorrow at 6, we wouldn't want to miss the Hogwarts express."

"Umm… yea, wouldn't want to miss… that." He said awkwardly and quickly went off in opposite directions. _Ok, lets try not to get killed by either of this girl's parents._


	2. Platform 9 and 3 What?

Nico sat at the foot of his bed in the Hades cabin, checking for probably the fifth time that he didn't forget anything. (Not that he had much in the first place.) He zipped up the black suitcase that his half-sister Hazel had made him, put his jacket on, and took one more glance at his ironically coffin-like bed before shadow traveling to the fire pit.

"You're late," Megra pointed out. "You were supposed to be here four hours ago!" Nico's could feel his heart smashing at his ribs, but stayed calm.

"No problem, no problem. . . How far away is this school again?" He asked.

"It's in London!" She stated. "Do you not hear the accent?" Panic surged through him. He started pacing around the fire pit.

"WHAT?" He exclaimed. "How am I supposed to shadow travel that far in such little time?"

"Shadow travel?" She asked completely off topic.

"Yes" He said quickly trying to think up a last minute plan.

"I can just apparate," She suggested, messing with a symbol Nico couldn't quite see on her necklace. Nico stopped in his tracks.

"Apparate? Is that the thing you did yesterday?" He asked.

"Yes," She said and looked around like she could be arrested at any moment for doing so.

"Are you sure you could apparate _that_ far?" He asked.

She blushed, "I-I reckon I can."

Nico wasn't convinced, "Are you sure?"

"W-we better be off ," She put her arm out again. "Come on then, Nico." He didn't know why she used his first name. People usually just called him: di Angelo or son of Hades. . . First names seemed weird.

He grabbed Megra's arm and they were soon in a train station. Nico clutched his stomach, he wasn't used to that whole "apparation" thing. Having no control on what's happening to him was something he never liked and still doesn't. It was like traveling through the wind all over again, the thought made him sick. And then there was that girl Megra and the thing about her father being a wanted. . . Nico was stuck in thought as he stared at a moving poster that read:

 **Have You**

 **Seen This**

 **Wizard**

This mad person looked. . . well, mad. He was a sunken-faced man with long, matted hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for years. Nico looked into the sky blue, shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of his death like appearance that seemed alive. And Nico knew well enough what the dead looked like from. . . experience. He also knew what a ghost looked like and with Sirius's waxy white skin, looked just like one.

"A bit scary looking, my father, huh," Megra said sadly, startelling Nico. "I reckon he's seen better days."

"I wouldn't know," He said.

She shrugged halfheartedly, "And I wouldn't remember." Nico felt uncomfortable that she was talking to him about her dad like this. She seamed in such a far away place when she spoke, as if trying to hold onto a memory that wouldn't stay together. It was a depressing sight.

"I was quite young when he. . . left, and I-I. . ." Megra's voice cracked sending an unsettling chill down Nico's spine. "Sorry, I suppose I've never really felt _safe_ talking about him before.

Nico didn't know what else to say except, "It's fine."

She sniffled and rubbed her eye, "No matter, no matter. Come on then, we best head over to the platform." And at that she started walking. That conversation had left Nico a little depressed, but he followed after her. Megara had trusted him enough to talk to him about something she had never talked about before to anyone. He didn't know how to feel about that.

A girl with frizzy brown hair that must have been Megra's friend greeted her happily.

"Hello Megra fancy seeing you here. Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?" The girl asked hugging Megra.

"Normally yes, but I was picking up an exchange student." She replied. The girl's eyes lit up and she walked over to Nico.

"Hello," She said formally sticking out her hand for him to shake it, "I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?"

Nico took her hand _tight grip_ he thought, "Nico di Angelo."

"Pleasure to meet you Nico di Angelo," She replied. He nodded.

Megra asked, "So Hermione, Where are Harry and Ron?"

"On the train. In fact we should go now before it's too late."

 **(ON THE TRAIN)**

Nico really didn't want to sit with a huge group of people, he had actually made it quite clear that he was _extremely_ claustrophobic. But of course with his luck he ended up sandwiched in between Megra and this weird counselor. . . professor. This weird professor who'd fallen asleep. His suitcase read R. J. Lupin. On the opposite side of the compartment, was a boy with fiery red hair, and a splash of freckles across his face and large nose. He wore what Nico suspected was the school uniform plus a maroon and gold scarf. He introduced himself as Ron Weasley.

Ron held a small gray cage, with what seemed to hold an old rat. An odd sort of shiver went down Nico's spine, he instantly didn't like this rat. He didn't know why, but he just really didn't like the rat. Of course he was only being paranoid, right?

Next to him was a boy with the same messy black hair and sea green eyes as Percy. Only, he had a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and round glasses perched ever so carefully on his nose. This boy was none other than Harry Potter, the boy who lived. The person his father droned on and on about for two hours. Of course watching him will be so much easier now that Nico knew he was friends with Megra. Wow, that was the only smart thing his father had done for this stupid quest.

"So," Ron asked just to break the silence. "Where're you from?"

Nico replied, "America."

"I think what Ronald ment was, where in America?" Hermione stated more than asked.

"Let's just say I travel around a lot," He said wearily.

"Oh, emm. . . Sure." Everyone stared at him for a minute, silently judging him. (Something he was all too familiar with.)

Megra spoke up, "So, anyway. How was your summer Harry?"

"Besides the obvious?" He asked. "Actually something really creepy happened to me just the other day." Nico felt Megra tense up.

"Is this about si-" She faltered. "Sirius Black?" Hades had told Nico all about Harry Potter's backstory and he only mentioned Sirius Black once because. . . oh gods. _That's_ what he did?!

"No but. . ." Harry looked at him hesitantly.

"You can trust him. His dad and my mum were really good friends." Megra saved the day.

Hermione said, "Go on then Harry." Harry went into a full blown explanation about this large black dog he had seen. He said it didn't attack or do anything really, it just stood there watching him. It was a shaggy old dog, that looked like it hadn't slept or eaten in months. _A street dog_ Nico thought.

"And it just walked away." He said.

Ron commented, "That's bloody strange."

"Yes, that's quite strange, but I don't see how this is anyway shape or form connected to Sirius Black." Said Hermione.

"Hermione's right," Said Megra. "It was most likely just a stray dog."

"You're right, you're right, it's just. . . " The train screeched to a stop, and everything went black.

Megra muttered to herself, "Lumos." The compartment was dimly lit by the tip of her wand. Nico looked around for any sort of indication of monsters or any other threat.

"Is everyone alright?" Nico jumped, the professor was awake and, standing up. His wand at the ready. Nico instinctively put his hand over his suitcase where he was hiding his sword.

"Yea."

"Mmm hmm."

"Yea."

"Yes."

"Yea, i'm ok."

"Good, good." Lupin sat back down.

"What just happened? We couldn't possibly be at Hogwarts yet." Said Hermione.

"Most likely just some mechanical problems," Lupin replied not sounding too sure of himself. "We should be off soon enough."

 _Or_ Nico thought _We could be under attack by, I don't know, a murderer!_ The teacher of all people should be up and at least trying to find out what happened. If Nico where at camp right now he'd be patrolling the area as of this second, but was he at camp? No. He was stuck on some stupid quest, to some stupid school, messing with something he had absolutely nothing to do with. And it just made him so mad that he couldn't do anything but just sit and wait for, gods know how long. It just wasn't going to happen.

But what could Nico possibly do if he came across Sirius Black? He didn't know any magic, let alone enough to take down someone with that much experience. He felt so useless. What could a sword do against magic? It wasn't a fair match in the least. He did have a wand, but he knew nothing about magic or how to use the blessing of Hecate. How could he possibly protect Harry Potter, when he couldn't even protect himself? It was hopeless. A lost cause.

Megra must have noticed that Nico was looking nervous, because she patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's alright, I'm sure it's nothing. We'll be starting off any time now." He just nodded and she gave him a quick smile before turning back to Harry.

"I hope we're not late. I'm really not accustomed to riding the train to Hogwarts."

"I know, this is must feel strange for you." Said Ron.

Hermione let out a scream and pointed to the widow on the door. Nico stared star struck at a large hooded figure standing just behind the door.

Nico saw his sister Bianca yelling, "Percy, GO! This is my fault, I'll do it!" She ran at a giant mechanical monster and jumped into the hole in it's foot. He was then back in the clay jar breathing in the toxic air and slowly starving to death. He was with the hunters of Artemis and Bianca just said she would join them. He was wandering the cold dark labyrinth with only a ghost to accompany him. He was at camp yelling at Percy that he broke his promise. He was struggling through the depths of Tartarus with no hope of survival. He saw his most terrifying heartbreaking moments of his life playing over, again, and again.

Then he was back on the train. Megra stood up quickly, her wand raised, as she chanted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A large figure of a dog with shaggy black hair shot out of her wand and circled around the hooded creature, pushing it out of the door and off of the train. She ran up and slammed the door shut. Nico passed out.

Nico sat at the foot of his bed in the Hades cabin, checking for probably the fifth time that he didn't forget anything. (Not that he had much in the first place.) He zipped up the black suitcase that his half-sister Hazel had made him, put his jacket on, and took one more glance at his ironically coffin-like bed before shadow traveling to the fire pit.

"You're late," Megra pointed out. "You were supposed to be here four hours ago!" Nico's could feel his heart smashing at his ribs, but stayed calm.

"No problem, no problem. . . How far away is this school again?" He asked.

"It's in London!" She stated. "Do you not hear the accent?" Panic surged through him. He started pacing around the fire pit.

"WHAT?" He exclaimed. "How am I supposed to shadow travel that far in such little time?"

"Shadow travel?" She asked completely off topic.

"Yes" He said quickly trying to think up a last minute plan.

"I can just apparate," She suggested, messing with a symbol Nico couldn't quite see on her necklace. Nico stopped in his tracks.

"Apparate? Is that the thing you did yesterday?" He asked.

"Yes," She said and looked around like she could be arrested at any moment for doing so.

"Are you sure you could apparate _that_ far?" He asked.

She blushed, "I-I reckon I can."

Nico wasn't convinced, "Are you sure?"

"W-we better be off ," She put her arm out again. "Come on then, Nico." He didn't know why she used his first name. People usually just called him: di Angelo or son of Hades. . . First names seemed weird.

He grabbed Megra's arm and they were soon in a train station. Nico clutched his stomach, he wasn't used to that whole "apparation" thing. Having no control on what's happening to him was something he never liked and still doesn't. It was like traveling through the wind all over again, the thought made him sick. And then there was that girl Megra and the thing about her father being a wanted. . . Nico was stuck in thought as he stared at a moving poster that read:

 **Have You**

 **Seen This**

 **Wizard**

This mad person looked. . . well, mad. He was a sunken-faced man with long, matted hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for years. Nico looked into the sky blue, shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of his death like appearance that seemed alive. And Nico knew well enough what the dead looked like from. . . experience. He also knew what a ghost looked like and with Sirius's waxy white skin, looked just like one.

"A bit scary looking, my father, huh," Megra said sadly, startelling Nico. "I reckon he's seen better days."

"I wouldn't know," He said.

She shrugged halfheartedly, "And I wouldn't remember." Nico felt uncomfortable that she was talking to him about her dad like this. She seamed in such a far away place when she spoke, as if trying to hold onto a memory that wouldn't stay together. It was a depressing sight.

"I was quite young when he. . . left, and I-I. . ." Megra's voice cracked sending an unsettling chill down Nico's spine. "Sorry, I suppose I've never really felt _safe_ talking about him before.

Nico didn't know what else to say except, "It's fine."

She sniffled and rubbed her eye, "No matter, no matter. Come on then, we best head over to the platform." And at that she started walking. That conversation had left Nico a little depressed, but he followed after her. Megara had trusted him enough to talk to him about something she had never talked about before to anyone. He didn't know how to feel about that.

A girl with frizzy brown hair that must have been Megra's friend greeted her happily.

"Hello Megra fancy seeing you here. Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?" The girl asked hugging Megra.

"Normally yes, but I was picking up an exchange student." She replied. The girl's eyes lit up and she walked over to Nico.

"Hello," She said formally sticking out her hand for him to shake it, "I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?"

Nico took her hand _tight grip_ he thought, "Nico di Angelo."

"Pleasure to meet you Nico di Angelo," She replied. He nodded.

Megra asked, "So Hermione, Where are Harry and Ron?"

"On the train. In fact we should go now before it's too late."

 **(ON THE TRAIN)**

Nico really didn't want to sit with a huge group of people, he had actually made it quite clear that he was _extremely_ claustrophobic. But of course with his luck he ended up sandwiched in between Megra and this weird counselor. . . professor. This weird professor who'd fallen asleep. His suitcase read R. J. Lupin. On the opposite side of the compartment, was a boy with fiery red hair, and a splash of freckles across his face and large nose. He wore what Nico suspected was the school uniform plus a maroon and gold scarf. He introduced himself as Ron Weasley.

Ron held a small gray cage, with what seemed to hold an old rat. An odd sort of shiver went down Nico's spine, he instantly didn't like this rat. He didn't know why, but he just really didn't like the rat. Of course he was only being paranoid, right?

Next to him was a boy with the same messy black hair and sea green eyes as Percy. Only, he had a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and round glasses perched ever so carefully on his nose. This boy was none other than Harry Potter, the boy who lived. The person his father droned on and on about for two hours. Of course watching him will be so much easier now that Nico knew he was friends with Megra. Wow, that was the only smart thing his father had done for this stupid quest.

"So," Ron asked just to break the silence. "Where're you from?"

Nico replied, "America."

"I think what Ronald ment was, where in America?" Hermione stated more than asked.

"Let's just say I travel around a lot," He said wearily.

"Oh, emm. . . Sure." Everyone stared at him for a minute, silently judging him. (Something he was all too familiar with.)

Megra spoke up, "So, anyway. How was your summer Harry?"

"Besides the obvious?" He asked. "Actually something really creepy happened to me just the other day." Nico felt Megra tense up.

"Is this about si-" She faltered. "Sirius Black?" Hades had told Nico all about Harry Potter's backstory and he only mentioned Sirius Black once because. . . oh gods. _That's_ what he did?!

"No but. . ." Harry looked at him hesitantly.

"You can trust him. His dad and my mum were really good friends." Megra saved the day.

Hermione said, "Go on then Harry." Harry went into a full blown explanation about this large black dog he had seen. He said it didn't attack or do anything really, it just stood there watching him. It was a shaggy old dog, that looked like it hadn't slept or eaten in months. _A street dog_ Nico thought.

"And it just walked away." He said.

Ron commented, "That's bloody strange."

"Yes, that's quite strange, but I don't see how this is anyway shape or form connected to Sirius Black." Said Hermione.

"Hermione's right," Said Megra. "It was most likely just a stray dog."

"You're right, you're right, it's just. . . " The train screeched to a stop, and everything went black.

Megra muttered to herself, "Lumos." The compartment was dimly lit by the tip of her wand. Nico looked around for any sort of indication of monsters or any other threat.

"Is everyone alright?" Nico jumped, the professor was awake and, standing up. His wand at the ready. Nico instinctively put his hand over his suitcase where he was hiding his sword.

"Yea."

"Mmm hmm."

"Yea."

"Yes."

"Yea, i'm ok."

"Good, good." Lupin sat back down.

"What just happened? We couldn't possibly be at Hogwarts yet." Said Hermione.

"Most likely just some mechanical problems," Lupin replied not sounding too sure of himself. "We should be off soon enough."

 _Or_ Nico thought _We could be under attack by, I don't know, a murderer!_ The teacher of all people should be up and at least trying to find out what happened. If Nico where at camp right now he'd be patrolling the area as of this second, but was he at camp? No. He was stuck on some stupid quest, to some stupid school, messing with something he had absolutely nothing to do with. And it just made him so mad that he couldn't do anything but just sit and wait for, gods know how long. It just wasn't going to happen.

But what could Nico possibly do if he came across Sirius Black? He didn't know any magic, let alone enough to take down someone with that much experience. He felt so useless. What could a sword do against magic? It wasn't a fair match in the least. He did have a wand, but he knew nothing about magic or how to use the blessing of Hecate. How could he possibly protect Harry Potter, when he couldn't even protect himself? It was hopeless. A lost cause.

Megra must have noticed that Nico was looking nervous, because she patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's alright, I'm sure it's nothing. We'll be starting off any time now." He just nodded and she gave him a quick smile before turning back to Harry.

"I hope we're not late. I'm really not accustomed to riding the train to Hogwarts."

"I know, this is must feel strange for you." Said Ron.

Hermione let out a scream and pointed to the widow on the door. Nico stared star struck at a large hooded figure standing just behind the door.

Nico saw his sister Bianca yelling, "Percy, GO! This is my fault, I'll do it!" She ran at a giant mechanical monster and jumped into the hole in it's foot. He was then back in the clay jar breathing in the toxic air and slowly starving to death. He was with the hunters of Artemis and Bianca just said she would join them. He was wandering the cold dark labyrinth with only a ghost to accompany him. He was at camp yelling at Percy that he broke his promise. He was struggling through the depths of Tartarus with no hope of survival. He saw his most terrifying heartbreaking moments of his life playing over, again, and again.

Then he was back on the train. Megra stood up quickly, her wand raised, as she chanted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A large figure of a dog with shaggy black hair shot out of her wand and circled around the hooded creature, pushing it out of the door and off of the train. She ran up and slammed the door shut. Nico passed out.


	3. What The Hell is a Hufflepuff?

"Nico? Nico! Wake up!" Megra shouted, distress and worry in her voice. Nico tried to open his eyes but they felt like led pressing against his face. He desperately attempted to move his arms, but they too were as stiff as boards. His brain felt as if it was trying to break out of his head.

"Come on Nico," Megra coached. "Just open your eyes."

He obaid, forcing his eyelids up. The train and Megara slowly came into focus. She let out a sigh of relief.

Harry asked, "You ok?" Nico sat up quickly, his head throbbing.

Lupin handed Nico a tiny square of food, "Eat this you'll feel better."

"I'm fine," Nico tried to stand up but his body had other plans, and he ended up plopping back down on the chair. He grabbed his head and groaned. This was stupid. Nico had trained himself to be tolerant to passing out, because of his shadow travel. And yet there he was. It was just so frustrating.

Lupin put the substance in Nico's hand, "Don't worry, It's just chocolate." The son of Hades reluctantly took a small bite out of the chocolate. He instantly felt better. It was like he was eating ambrosia, and his body filled with warmth.

Thanks, "He said and glanced at Harry who looked pale and cold.

He noticed that Nico was staring at him, "I erm, I passed out too."

"Dementors," Said Lupin making Megara flinch.

Hermione stated, "Heartless, soulless creatures from Azkaban looking for Sirius Black."

"They feed off of human emotion and make you re-live your most terrifying moments," Megara grabbed Nico's shoulder protectively. "It's fine that you passed out guys, I almost did."

"Yea, but you _didn't_ Megara," Nico pushed her hand away and she looked hurt.

"What was that spell you did, Megra? Ron asked. "It was bloody amazing." She looked over at Lupin nervously.

"It was my patronus," She mumbled.

"Your what?" Asked Harry.

Hermione answered for her, "It's an ancient and mysterious charm the conjurers a magical guardian, a projection of your most positive memories. It's one of the most difficult spells in the world, and most full grows witches and wizards can't even perform it. That was beautiful, Megara."

"Indeed it was, and very impressive." Lupin said, making Megra blush. "Was it a dog?"

Megara took a long time to answer, "Yea, he was my dog. But I was so little when he got taken away that I'm not even sure if he looked like that. I've just got a feeling." Well _Nico_ had a feeling that, that was the same dog that Harry saw the night he was on the night bus. It didn't take a genius to put those two things together. What he didn't get was why.

Harry must have been pretty suspicious too, because he said, "That looked exactly like the dog I saw the other day." Megara tensed up, and by the expression on her face Nico could tell she was trying to find a way to explain something.

"I rekan it was just a coincidence," She said not sounding to sure of herself. She gave Nico a look that said _I'll tell you later_ and He decided he should at least try to back her up. I mean she was his friend right?. . No he couldn't have friends and he never would. Nico lost his train of thought until Megara started shooting daggers at him with her sky-blue eyes.

"Yea, it couldn't have been the same dag. A lot of stray dogs look like that." He babbled, which wasn't like him at all. He scolded himself for doing so. (As he did frequently, whenever he screwed up.)

"Nico's right," Hermione gave Megara a look that said _we'll talk later._ "I'm positive it was nothing." Nico looked at the professor who was in deep thought. He looked like he was working on a particularly hard math problem and couldn't decide if he needed to multiply or divide. Or he if he was looking through a box of old pictures and was trying to remember all of the stories that came with them. Either way he didn't look very happy. Ron didn't seem to notice.

"What do you rekan, professor?" He asked disturbing Lupin's thoughts. His face looked like he just got drenched in water.

"I agree with Miss. Granger. Erm. . . I'm going to go speak with the conductor." He speed walked out of the cart. Nico instantly didn't trust this guy.

"What?" Nico questioned.

"No matter," Said Megara. The train screeched to a stop. _Now what?_ Nico thought.

Ron asked, "Now what?" Nico stared at him blankly and he started fidgeting with his wand.

"Look!" Hermione pointed outside. "We're here." Everyone grabbed their bags and walked off of the train. Nico heard a booming voice coming emerging from the distance.

"First years follow me!" A large man with a strong accent bellowed.

"Hagrid!" Megara ran over to the man and hugged him.

He hugged her and smiled, "There you are Megara, I was beginning to worry."

She laughed, "I was only gone for a week."

"I guess," He laughed.

"See you after sorting," Megara ran back over to Nico.

"Who-" He started.

"That was Hagrid, he's my erm. . . I'm not sure how to explain it. He sort of adopted me when. . .You know, and he's taken care of me ever sense. I guess you could say he's sort of my dad." She explained.

Nico said, "Ok, I guess that makes sense." But Nico really knew that was only a part of it. Hermione ran over to them and grabbed Megara's arm.

"Hurry or we'll be late for sorting." She ran off and Nico had to sprint to keep up with them until they were all the way into great hall. He got there just in time. An older professor was just saying, "Nico di Angelo." He walked over to her and she instructed him to sit on a three legged stool. She placed a stinky old hat on his head. Was this tradition or something.

 _Yes, I suppose you could call it that._ A voice spoke in his head. Nico panicked, was he going mad?

 _No, you're not mad_ The voice replied. Yep, he was definitely going mad.

 _Hmm, let's see. You're blocking your past from me. Why?_

 _Why_ should _I let you into my mind?_

 _So I may sort you, you silly child._

 _Don't call me a 'silly child' I've seen more than you could see in a lifetime!_

 _Quite unlikely. Either show me your past or I will have to sort you on your rather rude attitude._

 _You want my past? Fine. I'll_ show _you my past._ Nico allowed the hat into his mind. All of his tragic, horrifying, and heart wrenching past.

 _My- my child! You've showed more bravery than Godric himself! Surely you must belong in. . ._

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat bellowed. Nico stood up quickly and walked over to the table of student wearing maroon and gold. He spotted Megara and sat down next to her.

She patted him on the back, "Good job, Nico. You got Gryffindor." He smiled, but truth be told, he had no idea what just happened. An old man with a long white beard and half-moon glasses stood up.

"Welcome students, to another year at Hogwarts." Everyone cheered.

"Now, as you all know we once again need a new defence against the dark arts teacher. So give a warm welcome to, Professor Remus Lupin." The students cheered once more.

The old man kept going, "However what you didn't know was that care of magical creatures needs a new teacher as well. Are own groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid!" Megara shot up clapping and cheering with the rest of the students. The large man looked like he was tearing up, but he took a small bow and sat down.

"Now as you all know," The man continued once again. "The wanted criminal Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban. In order to insure your safety we will be grudgingly under the watchful eye of the dementors until he is captured." A hush fell over the crowd. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Megara flinched at the name of her father.

"Let the feast begin," He ended and all of the plates filled with food. After all of that Nico didn't feel much like eating, so he just waited until everyone else was done. When Megara was done she got up and started walking over to Hagrid. He got up and followed her.

"Congratulations, professor!" She hugged him.

"Thanks Megara," He said. "And this must be the student you were picking up."

"Yea. Hagrid, this is Nico. Nico this is Hagrid." She smiled. Nico shook his abnormally large hand.

"Nice to meet you," They both said.

"Well, we'd better be of," She said, "Tomorrow _is_ the first day of school." _Oh, joy._ Thought Nico as he walked to the common rooms with Megara. They came to a portrait.

"Cabbage draconus," Megara uttered with confidence.

"Very good," Said the portrait. "And welcome back Megara."

"Thanks you," She pushed the portrait open and walked into the room. _Here goes nothing._ Nico thought and he walked in after her.


	4. The Note

Nico stared absentmindedly out of the windows of the boys dormitory, wondering why he'd agreed to come there in the first place. He could have gone on any other quest, but _no!_ Hades had to go and force him into some stupid school he had nothing to do with. And sure the castle was cool, it was just way to big for such a little Nico di Angelo. There is no possible way he would ever connect to this school in any way it was just a fact, even with the blessing Hecate gave him. (Which he didn't even know how to use.) _Hey_ he thought _at least I don't have to deal with any more demigods._ And he planned on keeping it that way.

He was the only one who was awake, because it was five in the morning. He didn't mind though. He usually woke up early, and it wasn't like he wanted to talk to anyone anyway. He never really did.

Nico stood up and made his way for the door before a tired sounding voice from behind stopped him.

"Where 'r you going?" Nico turned around to see none other than Harry Potter himself.

"No idea," He shrugged.

"Oh, well breakfast doesn't start until six."

"Ok."

"See you in the great hall then."

"Yea," He said and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Gods he really hated being nice to that guy. And yes, he knew that sounded horrible, but he really couldn't help feeling that way. He just looked _so_ much like Percy. Sure he was on good standards with him, but this was different. He didn't know why it was, but it was. He walked down the stairs and into common room, where he found Megara on the couch, reading a book. Her eyes darted back and forth on the pages. She was reading like her life depended on it. So no surprize, when Nico sat next to her, she jumped.

"Nico," She gasped. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," He said quickly.

She giggled, "No, no it's fine. It's just this book is a bit. . . scary."

"What're you reading?"

She put her bookmark in, "Oh, The Shadow. It's really good if you'd like to read it."

He hesitated, "No that's fine, I don't really read that much."

"Ok, well if you'd ever like to," She lifted the book. "It'll just be in my bookbag."

"Yea thanks," He got up and walked to the portrait. "I'll see you at breakfast?"

"Yea, and are you sure you don't want me to show you around? It's a large castle."

"No thanks," He quickly shut the door before she could say anything else. He just wanted to be alone! Was that too much to ask? Well apparently it was. _Great._ Nico thought. _I'm answering my own questions now. Oh gods, I'm going crazy._ He started off down the hallway, feeling a soft tug at his feet. It was as if an invisible force was pulling him somewhere. He decided just to go with it. It wasn't like he could fight it anyway it was too strong. And besides what's the worst that could happen?

That was a terrible idea! The "force" pulled him down a few corridors and into an empty classroom. And he couldn't help but think, _Nico use the force._ He pushed away that thought. He didn't even like Star Wars. He felt the "force" leave. Good. He could finally be alone. But unfortunately there was someone else in the room. Nico's heart started to race. Not only was there someone in the room, but that _someone_ wasn't alive. Oh great, that's exactly what he needed, a ghost to blow his cover. He started to slowly back out of the room, maybe the ghost wouldn't notice him. Of course with his luck, it saw him, and knew right away who he was.

"S-son of Hades," He stuttered. "Ghost k-king." If ghost's could get down on one knee he did. He was as pale as. . . well, a ghost. And by the looks of him, an older one too.

"What is your name?" Nico asked.

"S-Sir Nick, My Lord. My Ruler. My Dark King," He said. Nico rolled his eyes at the comments. 'Ghost King' was just a title. A rather bothersome one at that.

He said a little too forcefully, "Don't call me King!"

The ghost was almost invisible now, "Yes my Kin- I mean yes, Sir."

"Just call me Nico, alright?"

"Alright, Sir Nico."

" _Just_ Nico. No sir. No king. _Just_ _Nico_!"

"A-Alright. . . Nico."

"Good. Now, why has Hades allowed you to stay?"

"I am the ghost of Gryffindor tower Sir- I mean Nico."

Nico nodded swiftly, " Good enough for me. Now, begone." Sir Nick floated down the corridor and turned the corner.

"Ok then," Nico said to himself. "Note to self, stay away from Nick."

He sat at the long table of excited Gryffindors. Ok, that was a lie. He sat at a table at half asleep- half awake, Gryffindors. The whole thing sort of reminded him of camp. Everyone had a house and every house had a table and every table had groups of friends. Except for him. As always he sat alone, at the end of the table.

People look at him like he was a freak. And he just accepted that he was one. He didn't belong at this school. He didn't belong at the camps. He didn't even belong in this time period. Heck, he didn't belong anywhere. His appearance alone stuck out like a sore thumb. Even in uniform he still had an evil look to him. It wasn't fair! He scolded himself for having such childish dreams. Like having friends, or fitting in. _Life_ wasn't fair, and he'd just have to deal with it.

He heard someone sit down next to him, "Hey Nico, I knew I'd find you somewhere."

He turned to see Megara's cheerful face, "Hi." He said gloomily.

She frowned, "You alright?"

Unexplained anger build up inside of him like a red hot flame. He shouted, "I'M FINE!"

The look on Megara's face surprised him so much that he couldn't turn away. It wasn't a surprised face, or a scared one like he gave to all people. It was the same concerned frown. She hadn't even flinched when he had yelled at her, which angered him further.

"STOP DOING THAT!" The room went silent. All eyes on him.

Megara put a hand on his shoulder, "The path of revenge has not done you good."

He swatted her hand off, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

She smooshed a piece of paper into his hand, "Meet me in the room of requirement." He didn't care that he had no idea where that place was but he stormed off. Running out of the Great hall, down a few corridors, and into a teacher.

"Whoa there! Where's the fire?" It was Lupin. He tried to push past the professor, but he grabbed Nico's robes. _Stupid uniform!_

"You ok, kid?" He asked looking nervous again. "Was there a wand fight?"

He tried to shake loose from Lupin, but he had the grip strength of a wolf. He had no idea why he made that comparison.

"Let me go!"

"Was there a fight?" Lupin asked more forcefully.

"No!" He yelled, and Lupin finally let go. Nico ran full speed down the rest of the hallway. A strange door came into view. It looked like it was conjured out of this air, but he didn't care. He was sick of this school playing tricks on him, so he just ran right in.

He stood there panting for a minute or two, sliding down the wall into a sitting position. His eyes darted around the room. He spotted a couch and a small table sitting next to it. There were two chairs around the table, along with a notepad and pen. He looked at the crumpled up note in his hand. Regarding it consciously, like it was a bomb that could explode at any moment. He smoothed it out. Pure terror crossed his face as a silent tear ran down his cheek. In neat handwriting the note read:

 _ **Bianca di Angelo**_


	5. Tell Me Again What a Friend Is

He just sat there. . . Staring at his dead sister's name. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't look away. The note was like a magnet and his eyes were slowly being drawn to it's energy. His heart broke in two. It had been five years since Bianca had died, but it was still a dagger through his heart. And it got worse every time he thought of her.

His throat felt like acid was slowly burning it from the inside. And every time a salty tear fell from his eye, the acid grew stronger, and his heart grew weaker. All he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and stay there forever, and he probably could. No one would even think to look for him. At least that's what he thought before-

"It's alright Nico," Megara wrapped her arms around him. "I know how you feel."

He pushed her away, "NO YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL! AT LEAST YOUR FAMILY IS STILL ALIVE! AT LEAST YOU BELONG SOMEWHERE! AT LEAST YOU HAVE SOMEONE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU! I ONLY HAD MY SISTER AND NOW SHE'S GONE! SO, NO! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!"

Nico stood right in Megara's face breathing heavily, and her expression faltered. She didn't look mad like he thought she would be. Her eyes shone with tears, he had really hit her where it hurt. That's what he wanted wasn't it? . . Then why did he feel so bad? Oh gods. . . What did he just do?

Nico backed slowly into the corner of the room. He just blew his one chance at a _real_ friend. He was such a terrible, terrible person.

Hold on. . .Why wasn't she leaving? Why wasn't she yelling at him? What's going on? What's happening?

Magara walked over to him. He backed away until he hit the wall. She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You're right." She said.

He wasn't sure if he heard her correctly. Did she just say he was right? Of course he wasn't right! Did she even hear what he said?

"W-what?"

"I said, You're right. I don't know how you feel. Which is why I volunteered to go on this quest with you,"

"W-what?"

"I know what you're doing. . .Looking sad when you think no one can see you. I know what that is, Nico. Please let me help you," He didn't reply so she kept going. "You build walls so you can see who cares enough to break them down. Hi my name is Megara Black. . .And I care enough."

Everything went blurry from tears. He knew she was right. He didn't like it. . . But he knew. The feeling was back and so was the dagger, slashing at his chest. Acid filled his throat once more. Why did he feel so weak? He was supposed to be the hero. He was supposed to save the day. But how could he do that if he couldn't even save himself?

Megara was the most understanding demigod he had ever met, hands down. He didn't deserve a friend like her. He would _never_ deserve a friend like her. And yet there she was, trying to help him when no one else would. Helping him when everyone else had given up. Helping him like a friend would. . . weird. . . Nico couldn't remember the last time he had a friend. In fact he couldn't remember _ever_ having a friend.

"So," Her voice was soft. "Will you let me help?"

He nodded, knowing that he couldn't say anything without crying. He choked back a sob.

"And Nico," She added. "Are you alright?" He nodded again, but she didn't look convinced.

"Don't lie to me." She said calmly. "Are you alright?" He hesitated for a moment, but he couldn't lie to her now. He shook his head.

"No!" He sobbed.

"Oh Nico," Megara embraced him in a hug, and he melted in her arms. For once he didn't have to be the strong one. He didn't have to push his feelings away to protect someone else. . . Is that why he felt so weak? Is this what it was like to be a ghost? Trapped, weak, and afraid? He cried like a little baby, but he didn't care. And he knew Megara didn't care either, so he wasn't embarrassed. . . Not anymore.

"Nico?"

"Y-Yea?"

"Alright?"

"Y-Yea." Nico let go.

"We should get to class," She said. "Do you still think you can go?"

"Yea, I'm fine."

"Alright, Let's go."

* * *

We were outside in front of the school for what Megara said was, Care of Magical Creatures. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to expect. It could be a unicorn for all he knew, or a pegasus. Either way he knew right then and there, that this class was gonna be a breeze. The class was ran by Hagrid, Megara's. . . Guardian. Which meant the animals were probably very, _very,_ tough. But that wasn't a problem. He dealt with giants and titans, and far worse creatures that unicorns and pegasi.

Nico looked around and saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing a few feet away, talking to Megara. About what? He didn't know but it was probably important, considering the looks on their faces. Which definitely were _not_ happy. He wondered what they were talking about. And then it hit him. . . Of course! They were talking about Sirius Black. Gods, he was such an idiot.

"Hey, Potter!" A scrawny boy with bleach blond hair wearing Hogwarts robes with a silver and green scarf yelled. "You better watch out or the dementors will get you!" He could tell this was the bully of the class. Nico _hated_ bullies.

"Don't listen to him Harry." Hermione said like this was just a normal argument that happened all the time.

"Shove off Malfoy," Ron said.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "Stay out!"

"She's right you know," Malfoy the bully said. "Stay out of this weasel."

"Oh please," Harry shouted. "If anyone's a weasel it's you! Oh wait, that's right. Professor Moody turned you into a _ferret_ not a weasel. Silly me."

"Don't worry," Said Megara in a mock tone. "He's just cranky because daddy didn't buy him the broom he wanted."

"At least I _have_ a father. Unlike you and Potter." Megara faltered.

"That's what I thought." That was it. Nico was furious! Who did this kid think he was? He ran right over and faced Malfoy, staring him down.

"Oh. What do we have here?" Malfoy inspected the son of Hades. "Let's see, black, black, black, and black. Looks like we've got a goth here. Oh, and check out his eyes. We've been crying haven't we? Well boo hoo!" Nico had dealt with bullies too many times to take anything from this blond brat.

"Nico," Megara ran to his side.

"Oh. Is this your girlfriend, Nico?" Malfoy teased. "And I thought you couldn't get worse than StinkBottom."

"I'm still dating him," Megara said through clenched teeth. "And his _name_ in Neville. Though I'm not surprised someone as stupid as you would remember." Megara didn't see that Hagrid had walked out of his house.

"At least I wasn't raised by that oaf, Hagrid."

"He. Is. Not. An. Oaf. How _dare_ you speak of him that way?!" She whipped out her wand. Malfoy did the same. It was a good thing that Hagrid finally broke it up, because Nico knew things were about to get ugly. After he had done that, he walked into the corner to talk with Magara.

Once again, Nico couldn't hear but it didn't look like a fight. The only thing he picked up were the words 'Drako', 'Oaf', and 'Buckbeak'. He knew where 'oaf' came from, but he had no idea what 'draco' and 'buckbeak' meant.

* * *

The class went even better than Nico hat hopped. The creature there was a Hippogriff named Buckbeak. Harry got to ride it once before Draco got a taste of his own medicine. He did exactly what Hagrid told him not to do: insult the Hippogriff. He called Buckbeak an overgrown rat with wings. So it did what Nico had really wanted to do to him in the first place: Slash his arm to pieces. Anyway he ended up in the hospital wing and class ended early.

The next class was called History of Magic. Nico spent the whole time just trying not to be noticed by the teacher. Who was believe it or not, a ghost. Yeah, another gods darn ghost in the school. After that was Charms class with Professor McGonagall, which Nico failed at. And finally we went to lunch. He was hungry from when he skipped breakfast.

He got lost a few time, but finally made it back to the Great Hall. He sat at the table of hungry Gryffindors. But this time he sat with Megara, Neville, and the trio. Nico's plate filled with food. That was cool. There were pomegranite seeds in the middle of his golden platter. Was that supposed to be some sort of cruel joke?

Megara noticed the seeds, "Wow. Even the plate knows who you are."

"Keep your voice down," He whispered. He didn't want anything to look suspicious. People would ask questions. People would find out why he was there.

"Oh, sorry."

"No problem."

"Who's that Malfoy kid anyway?"

"Oh, that's just Draco. Don't pay any attention to him, he's a little brat."

"I hate bullies."

"Me too."


End file.
